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Wednesday, 07 July 2021 16:14 |
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The California ProKart Challenge travels to the Santa Maria Karting Association facility on the July 17-18 weekend (Photo: DromoPhotos.com)
The second half of the 2021 California ProKart Challenge is on the horizon, beginning on the July 17-18 weekend at the Santa Maria Karting Association facility amidst an attractive west coast, cool and breezy weather forecast. Round Four of the 2021 championship chase will take place at the Santa Maria, California circuit with the new standard two-day race format for the Superkarts! USA regional program. Two events and three rounds of racing have been completed thus far into the season, with an exciting weekend planned at the SMKA ‘K’ layout to further shape those title chases.
It all began in April, with the opening round contested at the Buttonwillow Raceway Park before the series hosted its double-header weekend at CalSpeed Karting during the month of June. The lucrative $70,000 purse – including 2021 SKUSA SuperNationals 24 tickets, entries to the 2022 California ProKart Challenge program and year-end prizes provided by IAME USA West and Evinco/MG Tires – await those who continue to battle for supremacy at the California ProKart Challenge.
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Thursday, 24 June 2021 17:24 |
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(Photo: Spencer Russell - photosbysmr)
A full weekend of racing was conducted on June 18-20 as the California ProKart Challenge hosted a double-round event at the CalSpeed Karting facility. Rounds Two and Three of the 2021 Superkarts! USA regional program were conducted at the Fontana, California facility on Saturday and Sunday following a full day of practice on Friday, welcoming over 100 drivers. Four drivers were able to leave the weekend with two victories each in their respective categories.
Jesus Vasquez Jr. dominated the West Coast Motorsports KA100 Junior division both days, earning a perfect score each round. Vasquez cleared the 19-driver field in qualifying on Saturday before leading all laps of the Prefinal. Vasquez then led all 22 laps while posting quick time in the Final for a 13-second advantage toward victory. The fight was for second, with Logan Ainsworth earning the position over G3 Argyros. Christian Cameron and Dane Idelson completed the top-five. It was a duplicate performance on Sunday for Vasquez, never relinquishing the P1 position throughout the day with wire-to-wire wins in the Prefinal and Final. Argyros improved to second with Caden Chrisman in third. Idelson was fourth with Cameron rounding out the top-five.
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Friday, 11 June 2021 13:06 |
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The California ProKart Challenge returns to the CalSpeed Karting facility on June 18-20 for a double-header weekend to continue the 2021 season (Photo: DromoPhotos.com)
The 2021 California ProKart Challenge program returns trackside next weekend at the CalSpeed Karting facility. The Fontana, California circuit was left off the 2020 schedule due to COVID-19 restrictions, and comes back this season with the only double-header weekend for the year. Superkarts! USA regional competitors will be on-track for three days, including a full day of practice on Friday, June 18 and two separate rounds of racing on Saturday, June 19 and Sunday, June 20.
The season began back in April with the opening round held at the Buttonwillow Raceway Park, as 13 classes were offered in the title chase for a 2021 championship. This year’s series format will again be a ‘Best 5 of 6 races’, with competitors having the ability to drop one round towards their year-end points total. This means drivers who were not able to race at the series opener can still compete for a spot on the year-end championship podium, or if facing other challenges can still be in the title hunt even if they cannot race both days at CalSpeed.
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Wednesday, 26 May 2021 17:10 |
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Hannah Greenemeier became the first female winner on the SKUSA Pro Tour with victory in X30 Senior (Photo: EKN)
The 2021 edition of the Superkarts! USA Pro Tour SpringNationals came to close on Sunday at the Utah Motorsports Campus. It was a weekend of battling tough weather conditions and fierce fields in Grantsville, Utah with the threat of rain added into the mix on Sunday. A brief sprinkle is all that presented itself, as the winds continued throughout the day. As you would expect on the final day of action, the racing amped up with drivers taking a few extra chances in certain moments, with the results not equating to success. Nine drivers did come away with triumph at the end of the main events, including four more first-time winners on the day – including Colorado driver Hannah Greenemeier who became the first female driver to win at the SKUSA Pro Tour in its 12-year history.
The Rolison Performance Group X30 Senior class saw a lot of drama unfold from start to finish. Saturday winner Ryan Norberg was able to edge out RPG / Kosmic teammate Hannah Greenemeier for the pole position by a mere 32 thousandths of a second. At the start of the Prefinal, Norberg was shuffled back with Greenemeier and Trey Brown (RPM / Tony Kart) able to get away. It took five laps to catch back up to the top-two and when there, Norberg made a slight mistake, making contact with Brown as Greenemeier slipped past at turn one. Norberg and Brown went off at the exit, out of the race. That allowed Greenemeier to cruise to the Prefinal win. Norberg, starting at the back, was involved in contact on the opening circuit of the main event and recorded a rare DNF on the day. Up front, Greenemeier and Cole Morgan (RPM / Tony Kart) were shuffling for the top position nearly every lap. This allowed for a seven driver lead group for much of the race. On lap 17, Hannah was able to secure the top spot with RPG / Kosmic teammate Branyon Tiner coming through in second. Morgan came under pressure for the third position with Thomas Nepveu (PSL / Birel ART) on the attack. Nepveu worked past Morgan at turn 10, and at turn 11, Morgan drove over the back of Nepveu, pushing both off the course and out of the race. Following the contact, some extra-curricular activities commenced resulting in a DQ for both drivers. Up front, Greenemeier was able to put in solid final laps with Tiner on her bumper to the checkered flag for the victory. Round Two winner Connor Zilisch (Nitro / Redspeed) crossed the line third ahead of Jake Drew (RPM / Tony Kart), but both suffered penalties. Zilisch a three-second for pushback bumper and Drew a disqualification for pushback bumper manipulation post-race. That promoted Nathaniel Cicero to third, making it an all Rolison Performance Group / Kosmic podium. Zilisch was classified fourth, bouncing back from qualifying 12th. Rounding out the top-five was Oliver Calvo (LEM / Exprit), up three positions to fifth.
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Sunday, 23 May 2021 12:45 |
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Ryan Norberg became the third different winner on the season in X30 Senior (Photo: EKN)
The Superkarts! USA Pro Tour has invaded the Utah Motorsports Campus for the weekend, and the 0.9-mile, 18-turn Alan Wilson designed track provided the stage for some tremendous racing during the opening day of competition on Saturday. The 11th running of the organization’s SpringNationals began in extremely cool temperatures, but as the day heated up, so did the action. With the temps rising to the mid-60s by the early afternoon, the main events featured some tremendously close racing and tons of wheel-to-wheel dicing – with non of the nine categories seeing one driver sweep the action on the day. Four-time SKUSA Pro Tour champion Ryan Norberg dominated the X30 Senior main event for Rolison Performance, leading an impressive 1-2 finish with teammate Branyon Tiner, while AJ Myers scored his third straight Pro Shifter win of the 2021 season to put Magik Kart USA back on top of the podium. With nine classes running in eight race groups, the action did not stop all day.
The Ryan Norberg was a similar ‘Ryan Norberg’ to who we saw in 2019 here in Utah for the SpringNationals. A dominating performance in the Rolison Performance Group X30 Senior class, but not a complete perfect day. Rolison Performance Group / Kosmic teammate Hannah Greenemeier edge Norberg for fast time in qualifying by 15 thousandths of a second with a 57.663-lap. Contact in the opening lap with Greenemeier and Cole Morgan (RPM / Tony Kart) sent them to the back of the field. That allowed Norberg to lead all 12 laps of the Prefinal unchallenged with Branyon Tiner (RPG / Kosmic) driving to second. That was how they would start the Final, and finish the main event with Norberg leading all 20 laps, recording the fast lap of race, winning by over four seconds. Tiner was able to get away in second, giving RPG a 1-2 finish. The fight was for third with Dante Yu (PGR / Ricciardo) moving up two spots to the third step on the podium. Greenemeier put in a great drive in both the Prefinal and Final. Moving up to 16th in the Prefinal, she powered her way to fourth by the end of the Final, but a pushback bumper penalty dropped her to sixth. That moved Canadian Thomas Nepveu (PSL / Birel ART) to fourth and Thomas Annunziata (MDR / Tony Kart) to fifth.
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